Results 23,021-23,040 of 23,109 for speaker:Paddy Burke
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: Does that not answer the first question? The legal owner of the information is the person who signed the request.
- Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (11 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: There is much ambiguity in this. However, the kernel of the issue in sections 2 and 5 is whether it is the newspaper that wants to withdraw the request or the person who originally sought the information. A newspaper cannot seek the information because somebody's name has to be put down on its behalf. I presume that when one puts in a freedom of information request, somebody's name is...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: No one said that.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: The Minister is saying the dual mandate is holding us back.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: The Minister is their boss.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: He has not said that.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: I am disappointed that the Minister has not introduced a package of local government reform with this Bill which abolishes the dual mandate. He said he wanted to cut the umbilical cord â the link between local and national government â as part of his plans to reform local government. Although he is willing to break the link, he does not seem to be prepared to introduce measures to reform...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: That is exactly what the Minister said and I am disappointed by it. There are, at most, two, three or four dual mandate holders in each local authority. I cannot think of a Member of the Oireachtas who is holding back local government reform. The Minister's comments insinuated that local government reform would be hastened as soon as the link was broken. Why can local authorities not have the...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: If the dual mandate is abolished, which will happen if this Bill is passed, the anomaly referred to will be evident. The Minister has said on many occasions that he would like the role of a local authority member to become full-time. Quite a number of councillors work full-time and have no other employment while the Government pushes the notion that proper pension provision must be made for...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: I am speaking to the amendment, albeit with a little latitude.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: I am sure everybody will take an interest in this. I would like to hear the Minister elaborate on the way councillors can use the representational payment to provide themselves with pensions. Some of them have no other employment and no other funding which means they will receive no pension other than a gratuity payment when they retire from a local authority. How might they provide for their...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: We seek proper reform.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: We seek that in the context of proper reform.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on the Bill. While I regret that the Minister is not present, I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy McDaid.
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: Local government reform deserves a much wider debate than we are having in regard to the Bill before the House. There are two Bills from the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the Order Paper of the House; the Protection of the Environment Bill 2003 and the Local Government Bill 2003, which is currently being discussed. One takes away the power of local authority members...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: Was the Minister of State listening to what I said at the beginning of my speech? I am talking about a much wider debate on total reform of local government which we do not find in the Bill. Can the Minister of State show me local government reform? While the Bill speaks about reform of local government, there is nothing in it about reform. The Minister says he wants to make local authority...
- Seanad: Local Government Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: Of course it is. We are moving one step forward and two back. We have seen U-turns on most of the proposals of the previous Minister for the Environment and Local Government. We have passed legislation after legislation to change what Deputy Dempsey did as Minister. He wanted to have directly elected mayors. That proposal has been discarded. There were huge changes to his planning measures. I...
- Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: This section is a retrograde step for local democracy. To hand over this power to county managers and take it away from locally elected representatives is a retrograde step. I do not know how the Minister will implement these proposals. He said on Second Stage that he will decide the charge commensurate with what people can pay. This leads me to believe that when the Bill is passed he will...
- Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: That is correct. The Minister has grant-aided local authorities to the tune of â¬15 million, which works out at less than â¬500,000 per local authority, which is buttons.
- Seanad: Protection of the Environment Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (5 Mar 2003)
Paddy Burke: We have a few bottle banks here and there in towns throughout the country.